Retention of youth hockey players: coaching, expectations, and financial pressures

Retention of Participants in Youth Hockey

The dangers from expectations

What is there in the game?

Hockey Tournaments

Hockey coaching

Reforming behavior

The money paid

The love for the game

There have been a lot of changes in hockey and training for it over the last thirty or forty years, and one of the main areas that are being criticized is the method of teaching and certifying coaches. In previous years, the coaches were individuals with degrees in coaching, taught the persons they were supposed to teach, and even taught individuals outside the group of persons they were supposed to teach. At the same time, though they were good teachers, they had not played professional league and were thus not able to advance further in their career in hockey. According to them, the problems in hockey will be removed if we stop getting the old-timers back into coaching instead of the present professionals. (the Root of All Problems in Minor Hockey Today? Coaches Are Too Well Trained!)

Analysis

One of the major problems with the game is that it has been made very dry and complicated so that the individual player does not find it to be interesting enough. This makes him feel that there is no point in continuing with the game. The expectations of the viewers from the game are also very high, and this leads to a lot of expectations from the players. When the players cannot meet the expectations, they feel it is better to leave the game than cause emotional problems to others. The expectation from parents often lead to scenes which cause deep feelings in the minds of the young players and they feel that it is better to leave the game than continue embarrassing themselves and the people around. The popularity of the game also has caused some problems for its development. This is in the form of some groups trying to make money from organizing some tournaments. These tournaments are not very useful for the development of the players, but help the organizers earn money. There are also large expenditures for the parents who bring their children for these tournaments, and when due to various reasons, the performances of the teams are not up to the expected mark, then the parents feel that either the referees or coaches are not up to the expected level, or that their children are not being able to perform well enough. In any case, this is a disincentive for some players to continue playing.

For the situation to improve, one area that we need to look at is the improvement of coaching that exists in the initial levels of hockey, as the love for the game is built here. Another important area which requires attention is whether enough attention is being paid by the coaches to develop. No coach is perfect and it is expected that they will improve themselves during the process of teaching a team. At the same time, the actions of persons who are supporters of the team have to be controlled and this can be done both at an individual level as also through the efforts of institutions connected with the game. Efforts are being made from both sides, through training programs, as also new rules from the authorities of the game.

Another important question is that the game can provide many individuals with an excellent career option. The possibilities of earning large sums of money as a player exist, and this is a reason why individuals should continue with the game. Even if some difficulties had happened at one stage, there is no reason to feel that similar circumstances will be repeated. The emotional pressures that have come up will have to take care of this to a large extent. The general public also loves the game in spite of all the troubles the game has gone through. The supporters have continued to support the teams through monetary help, though of course the money is now earning interest. Yet, there is support for the game among people and that is certainly a positive aspect.

The dangers from expectations

One of the recent problems with hockey has been the high expectations of both the players and the supporters of the teams. There has recently been a case where a man was sentenced to six years in jail as he ended up killing a man during a fight in an arena. There have been games which had been halted because of fights between the coaches of two teams. There have been reports from viewers in the stands of a parent threatening to kill another parent and his son during the course of a game. There have been many stories about parents getting into fights with referees, coaches fighting with each other, fights in the lobby, a linesman being hit with a spear by an angry young player, referees being compelled to walk off the ice, and stories of efforts by teams to use illegal players. The emotional tension that encompasses hockey has made former players say that hockey will be in a much better shape when the parents accept that the game is being played for the benefit of the children and not their own benefit. Let us look at the story of one young boy. His father first threatened the coach and told the coach that he was taking the child off from the team. (Why I Quit Hockey... Keep Your Priorities Straight)

In courts there was the recent conviction of Thomas Junta for beating another father to death and that has brought back the focus on violence by parents at programs of youth hockey. Junta was found sentenced for involuntary manslaughter for the death of Michael Costin on January 25, 2002. At the age of 44, Junta beat up Costin who was 45 years old when the two got into a fight over rough play by their sons during a hockey scrimmage. During the course of the trial, Junta claimed that he had acted in self-defense, but other spectators at the game said that he had beaten up Costin many times during their fight. This is not the last story of fights between parents during sports events though the authorities have been trying to stop it. In February of 2001, a young coach for basketball got 17 stitches in his arm, after he was repeatedly stabbed by a referee and the referee was a minister. In July of the same year a parent and two coaches were banned for life from a soccer league in San Juan California. The problem was a post match melee that more than 30 adult's participated in. (Parental behavior under scrutiny)

During the course of the fight, there were a minimum of three arrests, and injuries to many persons including one who was suffering from bites. In November, there was the case of a head of an anti-violence group who was arrested on charges of punching out a referee during a flag football game that his 7-year-old son was playing in. One father was sentenced to four months in jail as he had mixed a football team's supply of water with a nausea inducing chemical. The reason for his action was to get back at the teammates of his son who had a dispute with them. Senior individuals involved with sports like Richard Lapchick, director emeritus of the Center for Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston, says strong measures are needed against violent and abusive parents. "Very few programs around the country have taken the approach that if you as a parent cross the line you can't attend the games anymore," he says. "Unless someone is made an example we're not going to have an effective deterrent." (Parental behavior under scrutiny) it is clear that the problem is not only with hockey, but with all sports that young people participate in, but the problem still remains that expectations from parents often harm their children's desire to continue with the game any longer.

The children often understand the mental feelings of their parents as they are fully aware of the number of times, the parents talk to others about their performance. When the child does not perform so well in the game in a particular year, the parents do not have a chance of talking about it, and the children feel that they are probably causing an embarrassment to their parents. Then the parents sometimes insist that the child is taken out of the team, and even if the coach, or somebody else manages to get the child back into the team, then they become very nervous to perform in front of others. Others try to bring back the confidence of the player by saying that they are good enough to play for the team, and the supporters of the re-entry also cover up their departures by saying the player was ill or something similar. The players in the team also try to help them. The appreciation of the performance of these players is often made up with gifts of money by parents, and this causes a problem. (Why I Quit Hockey... Keep Your Priorities Straight)

The mark of success is often due to goals in a hockey match, but in practice other performances are equally important, and that should be realized the people who are encouraging the player. The supporters often want the player to carry out action on the field that the player cannot do due to his deficiencies in some areas, though that does not make him any less a player. The players often get encouragement from their non-tournament performance as then they can perform without tension and this improves their capacities as a player. The supporters keep advising the coaches about what they should or should not do, and often enough even the players knows that such an action will be wrong. The players are aware that their game is costing the guardians money, and to them it seems that the guardian is not happy. This makes them feel hurt and they would prefer to get out of the game. (Why I Quit Hockey... Keep Your Priorities Straight)

What is there in the game?

Teaching of the game of hockey as such has to start from the knowledge that it is really a game which requires certain skills which have to be passed on to the students who are learning the game. The entire process consists of a few lessons - the knowledge of the learner as to the method of holding on to the stick; the knowledge of how one should balance oneself on the skates even when the person is being pushed or shoved by others; the player has to know the methods of skating forwards and backwards; the students have to learn how to shoot the puck accurately both on the ice and in the air for all shots like wrist shots, backhands and slap shots; the learner has to learn how a pass is received without the puck bouncing off the stick; the learner has to know the rules and how to play in all positions both in the defense and attack. Yet the situation today is that all coaches concentrate on many books and coaching guides which are meant to develop hockey skills in the players. (the Root of All Problems in Minor Hockey Today? Coaches Are Too Well Trained!)

This is leading to the usage of drills even at the school level that were earlier used only at the Junior or Professional levels and the reason for late usage was the complexity that was involved with the practices. Thus, some practices look like a three ring circus and even the value of a coach is determined by the complexity of his methods. In the earlier years, the coach concentrated only on a few skating drills; some shooting at the goalies and spent the rest of the time on scrimmaging. This sort of practice is best suited for junior hockey and even the coaches for minor hockey teams now use these techniques for the younger players. The result of the new techniques is that there has been a decline in the number of players who are capable of holding on to the puck during their movements in and around their opponents. The end to end rushes have also become far fewer.

In the situation today, a player is supposed to hold on to his position and dump or chase the puck into corners. The player is supposed to go over the red line and then dump it in. As a result of these efforts, it is certain that some players of the opposition target the player and get hurt. This is due to the opposition players having learnt that it is easier to hook, hold, trip, slash and check than to skate at a high speed to catch up with the opposition player. This has made defense the most important activity for most teams. The teams today do not try score on their own, but try to score from the lapses of the opposing team, and thus the game is becoming a defensive game. Combined with this, the young learners are being forced to learn to play in a position while their full development as a player has not taken place. (the Root of All Problems in Minor Hockey Today? Coaches Are Too Well Trained!)

Hockey Tournaments

Another problem with the development of hockey has been the tournaments which have become very popular over the last ten or fifteen years. It is quite a practice for many teams to take part in many tournaments during every season. The number of tournaments may be five or even six. The number of tournaments is independent of the clubs being house league or representative clubs. These tournaments are held during Friday to Sunday of every week in season and guarantee every club that they will get a minimum of three games. If the team manages to perform well, then the team may get even more games during that period - as many as six. This happens when the teams reach the championship level. The main aim of these tournaments is to earn money. The aim is to collect together a number of teams with a reputation, organize a compressed competition, charge the teams entering the championship a high entry fee; sell tickets to the parents or others who come to see the performance of their children; have a licensed bar with a concession for the time and sell advertising for these matches. The profits from these tournaments are high and the local registration fees are still under control. (Hockey Tournaments are they doing more harm than good?)

These tournaments were under control till a few years back, but since the number of tournaments has increased, the costs of running these tournaments have become very high. Thus the games in these tournaments are being made shorter, the entry fees are being increased and prices for admissions to the ground have increased. The profit making has also been understood by the municipalities and they are now trying to make money through renting of ice during tournaments than during the other weekends. This makes them schedule as many tournaments as possible. Even the coaches want their teams to go to tournaments as much as possible. The organizers of tournaments also try to pull in as many games as possible during the period for which they have taken the ground on hire. The conditions lead to a problem in officiating for the referees and others. (Hockey Tournaments are they doing more harm than good?)

For the officials these sessions are very tiring and they also have to be very sharp during their supervision of the game. They often have to supervise as many as three or four games in a row. This cannot be avoided as there are not enough referees in the country. The referee also finds it very difficult to supervise the games of the same team more than once during the same day and this also may happen more than once during a tournament. The decisions of the referee are not often liked by the teams as they feel that the referee has been unjust to them, and due to this reason referees prefer to officiate in games of the same team only once during any particular tournament. In these tournaments, it is possible that a person has to referee a game with one team in the morning and the contest may turn out to be extremely competitive. It just may happen that the same referee will have to take up a game with the same team later during the same day. This is not a preferred choice, but it happens in these tournaments. The referee, the players, coaches and fans have already met one another before during the same day, and they will have preconceived notions about each other's behavior. The emotional depth increases with the number of matches that a referee has to supervise for the same team, and it can be well imagined for a referee who is compelled to supervise the third match for a team within two days.

Tournaments also tend to bring out the worst in parents and coaches who have come to the tournaments with the teams of youth hockey players. The result is super-charged emotional games for them, and they tend to burst at any time. Often the teams have traveled quite a distance to get to the place of the tournament and the accompanying families are already incurring a lot of expenditure on hotels, food, and other matters. This makes them desire to win at all costs. In addition to this the games have been shortened for the purpose of being able to organize the tournament in the time available, and that makes people be on the edge while the tournament is going on. (Hockey Tournaments are they doing more harm than good?) the tension in these tournaments hurt the players the most as they feel that they have to deliver some things that they cannot. Instead it would be better to organize leagues for the evaluation of the teams. This will make the teams also be less concerned about attending these tournaments and thus putting pressure on the players. This will help all the teams have more time and money for additional practices and games which will give them local competition. The environment in those games will also be a lot friendlier.

Tournaments may be required at the end of the season so that one can determine which team deserves to be the champion, but they only provide some competition during the season. While providing competition, they also build up a lot of tension among the players, and that causes harm to the players. They are also a cause for the waste of a lot of money for the people who participate. The expenditure of any parent would be above $500 during a weekend when his son would be playing some matches during one of the tournaments. At the end of the tournament, the main collection for the player will be a medal which he can hang up on the wall. Instead of spending money like this, it would be better for parents to pool in the money and the amount collected would give a reasonable sum of money. That would enable the concerned coach or trainer to get extra time on ice for the players which could be used for extra games. This time could be used for extra practice which would make them better players. This was certainly better than getting a few medals and only a few games with the expenditure of the same amount of money. (Hockey Tournaments are they doing more harm than good?)

Reforming behavior

The issue of fighting the increase in violence in sports has been taken up seriously and there is now a plan to issue a set of guidelines to be issued this fall. The decision to bring out these guidelines has been taken at the National Summit on Raising Community Standards in Children's Sports which was held on June 8 and 9 in Itasca, Illinois. Attending the summit there were more that 50 professionals from parks and recreation centers from all over the country. They were chosen based on their direct involvement in their communities as also their knowledge of the issues that were affecting organized youth sports. The delegates spent two days in evaluating the present problems. The final decision was to find useful solutions which could end the violent and abusive behaviors that were causing many sports to become unpopular. The summit was a result to the increasing number of brawls, beatings, arrests and ugly confrontations that were taking place during the proceedings of various tournaments. (Combating Violence in Youth Sports)

The incidents were taking place among parents, volunteer coaches and sometimes even between the players. It was felt by them that efforts are required in six important areas. The first of these is that all communities should contribute to a national philosophy where the sports of children become safe, positive and free from misbehavior by the parents. The second point was regarding the removal of all political influences from youth sports. The third point was that all communities should have trained and knowledgeable supervisor for the conduct of children's sports. The fourth was regarding volunteer parents who use public and private facilities. They have to be educated before they are given any facilities for their organization of children's sports. They also have to carry the accountability for the programs that they organize. The fifth is regarding the parents who also act as coaches, and they have to be trained and must maintain a certain code of behavior. The last point is that all parents and children who enroll in these programs have to go through a course of orientation and maintain a strict code of ethics. (Combating Violence in Youth Sports)

It is important that hockey should be treated as a game of fun. When one does not observe this code of conduct, then the result is that the child is singled out and also friends are likely to desert the parent. One of the requirements for this is better sportsmanship and to give everyone involved in the organization of the games and give equal facilities to all players. For achieving this it may be possible to think in terms of two teams and the top team should concentrate on winning the championship while the other team should concentrate on developing players. This concept is not liked by many persons involved with the game. At the same time, if the coach uses only a short list of players, then the value of that list to the organization for which they are playing, players and even parents get reduced. There are now organizations that teach values in sports. These organizations do not conflict with any goals of the U.S.A. Hockey and rather help maintain the values that are promoted by them. (Making hockey fun)

The methods of specific focus helps these organizations concentrate on sportsmanship and ignore other aspects that other organizations have like, registration, insurance coverage, supervision and training of coaches and officials, conducting of tournaments and publishing and running of national teams. Today even USA Hockey encourages codes of conduct that are applicable to players, coaches and officials as also spectators and parents. The institution has also started a zero-tolerance policy. This gives the scope that a team which has an associated member who is verbally or physically abusive on ice or in the stands can be penalized. When the fan in the stand becomes verbally abusive to a player, coach, official of another team, or a spectator, the referee can issue a penalty against the team that fan is supporting.

The individual concerned is also asked to leave the facility where the game is going on. After that action is to be taken by the local league. They can also decide that a further action is required and at the same time, the person who has caused all this activity is also able to explain the point-of-view from his or her side. The follow up action could be the individual not being permitted to come for a certain number of games or being placed on probation. Even when the person is permitted to come back, there may be another person who is given the responsibility of supervising his or her conduct. (Making hockey fun) Thus it is clear that the dangers to the game from the actions of supporters and others is being realized by all concerned and needed action is being taken.

The money paid

The money that is collected by good players of the game is very high and one of them, Pavel Bure has collected over $50 million during the course of the last six years. The reason for this high payment is the value of his game to the team on a per game basis. He is one of the few players to have scored more than 60 goals two times in the season. The choice of excellent players like him along with Trevor Kidd, Todd Simpson, Lance Pitlick and Ray Sheppard, the team is faring very well in the championship. (Bure proves one player can make a team better) the main reason for any individual to like the game is because it provides an excellent source for future careers. This is a factor that should be highlighted to individuals who were good at the game and then left it for any reason whatsoever. Obviously they will not come back to youth hockey as it can be played only for a short period in one's life. However, if the person has left youth hockey for some emotional reason, it is better to try to convince him that the emotional conditions have changed and the persons who have caused that emotional hurt in him are also ready to change themselves. For this it is clear that the persons whose behavior had hurt the person the most should talk to him in this regard. At the same time, it is good to talk to him about the future potential of the players of the game. (Newer clubs staying on the ice)

The love for the game

In spite of all the difficulties that the game has gone through, there is still a lot of love left for the game. Team officials of Carolina, Atlanta, Anaheim, Florida, Tampa Bay and Phoenix are now trying to bring the game out of hibernation. They all want a new system to bring parity and new rules to make the game faster, more exciting and conclusive. The game still has an excellent fan base as the large number of season ticket holders have not asked for a refund in most cases. The loss was to the extent of only 300 tickets out of 8000 for many centers. Another reason for not asking for refunds was the 5% interest paid on funds by clubs on the money left on account. This was offered by Phoenix Coyotes, Carolina Hurricanes and Mighty Ducks. (Newer clubs staying on the ice) Thus it is clear that there is a lot of love left for the game, and it is only the players who can let that love continue.

Conclusion

Let us remember that at the end of it, this is a game and that all games are finally played for fun. When individuals get very serious about a game, then all participants loose the sense of fun that they have for the game. Players should not be made to feel as if winning games is essential or a matter of pride and prestige to their parents. Once that is done, then there will be more players. Once the jobs of coaches are made less tense, then more coaches will be ready to come up as coaches. The officials will come according to the demand for them.